Preparing for spring and summer, Sacramento County master gardeners host free event
Clubs to offer their expertise, plants and wares; volunteers needed for McKinley Park beautification event
Recipe: Mom’s chili and beans with grated cheese and onions
Spring is almost here (but first, some more rain)
Find unusual plants, garden wares while supporting local vendors and clubs
Master gardeners offer spring workshops in vermiculture
Members-only event features huge selection of water-wise plants; join at the gate
Sacramento Perennial Plant Club event features dozens of vendors at Shepard Center
People brave stormy weather to celebrate milestone and see lots of flowers
Recipe: Poppy seeds add texture to vegan snack cake
Cold storms remind us: It’s still winter (but we have camellias)
High temperatures take a 20-degree dip from last weekend's warmth
Yolo County master gardeners offer morning Zoom class
Placer County master gardeners offer free workshop on straw-bale gardening
American Rose Society offers free webinar on flower photography
Milestone event to be at new location: Scottish Rite Center
Recipe: Easy asparagus-mushroom bake with eggs and cheese.
Enjoy a glimpse of spring before more rain arrives
How to tackle fungal outbreaks on roses without spraying
Placer County master gardeners present workshop Saturday
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Local News
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 5
Take advantage of this break between storm systems to give your garden some much-needed TLC.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees soon after a rain to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranuculous and gladiolus for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
Powered by California Local
